Half A Glass Of Water

we sat drinking
the milk of lions
and smoking argila
way past midnight
the curtains drawn
the candles burning
outside, the curtains were drawn
Baghdad is burning
do you see the glass
half full of water
or half empty?
I asked
I don’t see the glass!
one said
I don’t see the water!
another intoned
we all laughed
I mean if I were holding a glass
with some water in it
would you see [...]

Woman

Looking at you I thought
to myself
there is a mesmerizing magic aura about you. 
I am captivated
by the delving intensity
in your hypnotizing eyes.
It’s sweet!
It’s so sweet! 
The symmetry of your features,
the natural flow of your beauty
defies description.
It’s new.
Oh! So new.
God’s upgraded creation.  
The soothing vibe in your voice
lulls me
cajoles me 
Your lips [...]

There Has To Be A Child

I walk along
graffiti streaked T-walls
in Baghdad thinking…
there has to be a reprieve
for a heart that shuns
the hatred 
there has to be
some crumbs of happiness
leftover here somewhere
some love
some crackling
good-hearted laughter
left here somewhere
to subdue the barking
of the guns
and the stomping
of the boots
the horrors of war
could not have seeped
into all the cracks
of every wall
and every soul
a child somewhere
still remembers
between [...]

The Ambulant Shoe Shiner

He tumbled in with his disheveled hair like weed.
His angular body slouched from the heavy bags under
his bleary eyes.
He seemed in need.
Half a filter-less cigarette dangled from his lips
like consumed harlot breasts which had long
surrendered to gravity.
He IS in need.
Grimly trudging through the plaza
between tables upon which were perched blind patrons
tossing bread to pigeons,
he tapped his shoe [...]

The Harbinger of Death

I stand looking
across the dusty street
at the cinderblock walls of
her humble timeless dwelling
swept by desert sands in
need of a more peaceful
place to amass
and speckled by shrapnel and bullets
whose crackling sound
I can still hear
if I put my ear against the wall
the slugs lie where they dropped
like dead flies
like dead people
the rusty metallic front door
whose chipped green [...]

Ishtar’s Bad Hair Day

The first sad look today is
in my cracked mirror.
Today is a good day for a
sassy
short
hair
cut
that would show my almond
gazelle eyes and sensual lips.
I need something to accentuate
my beautifully pronounced
features and disguise
my not so many flaws.
What I need for this bulky
coarse hair of mine
is a cut using
graduated
layers.
To create added texture,
I [...]

Close Your Eyes

Take a deep breath.
Close your eyes.
Imagine you’re at a sandy beach
in San Diego or Miami …
You can feel the heat of the sun
on your oiled skin and thinking
about how beautiful your tan
is going to look makes you smile.
The sound of crushing waves tickles
your ears; it’s a special, [...]

The Witness

amidst the dead,
those waiting to die,
its height surpassing
the crossed swords,
the ziggurats,
overlooking the Tigris
flowing red and
the xeric landscapes
beyond its banks,
an even sadder
palm tree stands with
its palms shredded
by gloom,
its trunk blackened
by the dried blood
of children spilled
by demoniac extremists
who eulogize the fallacies
of contrived divinities,
by nefariously obsequious
politicians effusively
touting ostensible
policies while insidious
jaundiced knowledge
looms menacingly.
Amidst this dying
world, an even sadder
palm tree [...]

So Easy!

it’s so easy!
it’s so easy!
fear comes barging in
so easy.
and death!
crisp and guileless.
it’s so common now.
it’s such an easy sight.
recalcitrant children
wrinkle their noses at it
and walk on so easy.
to get kidnapped.
and to never be
seen again.
so easy.
for courage to abate.
before this persistent
madness, for faith
and hope to become
second rate.
so easy!
to loose the history,
the family,
the life
in this ramshackle cluster
of [...]

The Folly of Being Human

You don’t know how it feels,
she deadpans while standing
naked by the window looking out
into a Baghdad
shrouded in a ragged reddish
mourning dress of dust.
I stretch naked on a mattress
half covered by a wrinkled white
sheet sullied by the sweat of our
sexed out bodies.
A long black hair wriggles on the lonely
pillow we shared. The pillow I used
to strut [...]